DRY NIGHT MEANS A GOING CHANGE TO GOOD SOFT
On the morning of Gold Cup Day, the final day of The Festival™ presented by Magners 2019, Cheltenham's Clerk of the Course, Simon Claisse, changed the official going description to reflect the weather conditions overnight.
He said: "As anticipated, we've had a dry night. It was quite breezy so we updated the ground this morning at 6am to Good to Soft all round on both the Chase and Hurdle courses.
"The outlook for today is mostly dry - there may be a little light drizzle - but breezy, so that ground could well dry out throughout during the day.
"It will depend on what rainfall we do have, but if we get as little as is forecast, I think we will end up with Good to Soft, Good in places at some stage during the afternoon.
"We've opened up fresh ground on the Chase course, which is about seven or eight yards all the way round. The ground looks in superb condition for what should be a fantastic afternoon's racing, with our first Magners-sponsored Cheltenham Gold Cup as the highlight."